Her Friends Turned Their Senior Trip Into A Party Weekend, But She’s Still Underage

Some friend groups plan a senior trip like it’s a postcard, OP’s friends planned theirs like it was a checklist for nightlife. And the problem is, OP is 16. While everyone else turns 18, she’s stuck watching her carefully planned “New York memories” get replaced with “club nights, tattoos, and piercings.”

OP and her friends already booked the Airbnb and bought tickets for a full New York run, with Broadway, museums, flea markets, and sightseeing. Then the group pivoted, and OP tried to compromise, offering one night max and keeping it low-risk so she would not jeopardize her accepted spot at a prestigious university. Her friends, though, pushed harder, even suggesting a fake ID so she could join the bar and club scene without getting kicked out.

What starts as a fun trip turns into a blame game, and OP is stuck figuring out whether she’s being treated like the problem for saying no.

The OP's friends accused her of guilt-tripping them into changing their plans and said canceling now would make the trip more expensive for everyone else.

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Original Post

Hi! I (F16) and my friends (All F18) have been planning an end-of-school-year senior trip to New York since last year. We've all been super excited, already booked our Airbnb and bought tickets. I am a year younger than all of them because I started high school a year early, and originally, on our trip, we had planned some sightseeing stuff, Broadway plays, visiting the flea markets, art museums, basically like all the kind of toursity new york things.

Recently, with all of them turning 18, they've wanted to add things like nightclubs, tattoos, and piercings together on the docket. I'm in no way opposed to this and said it could be fun if we got, like, matching stick-and-pokes or whatever. However, I wouldn't really be able to visit bars and clubs with them due to being underage. They said they want to go to professional places and stuff and get things done right. I said that's fine, but to limit this to one night tops, so I'm not just sitting at the Airbnb every single night alone doing nothing.I honestly would love to go because I do like parties and dancing and stuff, but I've also been accepted to a prestigious university, and I don't want to have anything on my record for the risk of getting it rescinded. I said that if they feel strongly about going clubbing and stuff, I would try to just like sneak in with them, but they all told me that they don't want to risk getting kicked out of the clubs, so I should just get a fake ID.This is something that could probably get me into legal trouble and I don't want to risk it. When I told them that, they kind of made it sound like they planned to go clubbing and stuff much more than we had originally intended, meaning I would basically be spending at least half the nights of the trip doing nothing. I told them that I hope they have fun, but if they're going to plan things I can't really participate in, I won't come on the trip with them because I'd rather go on a senior trip with other people where we do things that we all enjoy.My friends are now saying I'm guilt tripping them into changing their plans and it's unfair if I cancel this close to the trip because it makes it a lot more expensive for everyone else. They also said that I'm over exaggerating a bit because I can still do all the daytime activities we had originally planned (we still have Broadway tickets and stuff like that), so I'm being overdramatic.TL;DR: AITA if I back out of a senior trip, causing all my friends to have to pay significantly more, because they planned activites I can't participate in?

Let's see how the Reddit community reacted.

joefunk76

Y'all need to grow up first.

fantasticgoat7171

NTA.

BriefHorror

Do they realize they're underage too?

CarineM9

If they're not 21, they're not going clubbing.

Mojito_enjoyer

This sounds like a disaster in the making.

Sea_Chocolate_3537

You're more mature than they are.

McKillsey

For more fallout from family rejection, see the Redditor who skipped their grandmother’s funeral after years of being ostracized.

Your friends are just trying to make you feel bad.

henicorina

Do they all have fake ID's?

Outside-Ad-1677

You’re smart for not wanting to go on the trip.

These_Economist3523

Your friends are extremely rude.

capricornicopia-

They're setting themselves up for disappointment.

tityanya

Seems like you are the only responsible one.

Future-Ear6980

This is a valuable life lesson.

SarcasticAnd

It's not worth it.

No-Chocolate5288

They should feel guilty for excluding you.

Competitive_Camel410

That’s when OP’s friends started accusing her of guilt-tripping them over the New York plans they had already agreed to change.

Once OP refused to use a fake ID, the group’s tone shifted, and suddenly canceling would “cost everyone else more.”

The real tension kicks in when OP realizes she might be stuck at the Airbnb for half the nights while they chase clubs, tattoos, and piercings.

Now OP is basically asking her friends to choose between safer compromise and a full-on party weekend in New York.</p>

In the end, the Redditor says she isn’t trying to control her friends’ plans—she just doesn’t want to spend half the trip sitting alone while everyone else is out having fun. At the same time, her friends insist she’s overreacting and making things harder by threatening to cancel so close to the trip.

Now the internet is weighing in on whether the teen is being practical or whether she should just go along for the ride and enjoy the parts of the trip she can. Either way, this senior getaway might end up being remembered less for Broadway and sightseeing—and more for the unexpected friendship drama.

OP might not be able to party the way they want, but she’s the one paying the social price for it.

Before you decide who gets left out, read how one parent excluded in-laws from a family reunion to keep things peaceful for their kids in this AITA.